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If you never saw this, it was most likely because it was never officially released, until the various scraps of film were assembled and released to an unsuspecting internet in 2007. I found it on YouTube, and it is simply fascinating on a retro level, and on a filmmaking level as well. The movie was never completed due to running out of money or unpaid bills or some such jibber-jabber. It seems as though most of the movie was already done...except any bear scenes, such as the bear killing anyone at all. So there's no payoff for horror fans in that respect. The only thing going for it is simple curiousity.
This movie is stocked with famous faces, which is rare for an unfinished and unreleased sequel to a killer bear movie. Louise Fletcher, an actual Oscar winner, who was born to play evil bitches, plays another one here. Charlie Sheen, Laura Dern and George Clooney (another actual Oscar winner) all appear in scenes together as a trio of doomed campers. Other famous faces include John Rhys-Davies as a "French Canadian Indian" a.k.a. "The Quint Role." Deborah Foreman (Valley Girl) appears sporadically too.
Did I mention the soundtrack is loaded, I mean LOADED with Michael Jackson songs from the Thriller album, which are played constantly at any of the concert scenes? I believe this to be the real reason why the money was never finished, can you imagine how expensive it would be to pay for the rights to those songs now?
It plays almost like a regular killer bear movie, minus the killer bear scenes, until near the end, which is where the unfinished portion of our program kicks in. The grand finale is a series of quick cuts and unfinished scenes pieced together in the order they would appear in a finished version, but sometimes there is no sound or you can hear someone yelling "CUT!" This tends to take away from the enjoyment of the movie, but it is unfinished and that's pretty obvious when you get to this point. Still, I wanted to see it and now I have. If you're looking to complete the series, like I was, go for it. If you're curious and interested in oddball movies in film history, I say go for it too. If you're looking for a good movie, with things like sound and coherence, maybe stay away! There are some laughs to be had though.
score 5/10
Lebowskidoo 18 June 2018
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4207659/ |
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